It has been a while since I visited Mazatlan. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 22 years +/-. I remember it well however, at least from my perspective. Remembering it alone is probably more than many can say who visit such a place as young “adults.”
It was the boss’s 50th birthday, and as a member of a timeshare he had enough points to host family and friends in the 2-story penthouse suite with hot tub on the balcony, and provide the rest of the staff with condos for a week. With a west facing balcony overlooking the grounds and the beach, it was perfect, as I certainly lean more towards the sunset on the beach, rather than sunrise. However we did crawl out of bed early on occasion or two at his insistence to go down to the beach together and buy fresh shrimp, as they brought them in off the boats. We all spent the week at a resort called Torres Mazatlan, which by the results of a Google search is still there by the same name ( you never know -a lot can change over 2 decades). At the time, the resort was a bit north and somewhat disconnected from the town, however I am guessing it is probably filled in with high rises and resorts the entire distance today. But I am not sure – post a comment and update me. One of my first ventures south of the US border, I remember the crux of the trip to be a good experience and a memorable one. However having had such a nice time at a beautiful Pacific resort, I also recall feelings of guilt, observing the hardship and living conditions during the long ride back to the airport.
Photographer Darla R. Daniels recently took a break and spent a week in Mazatlan unwinding. How does a photographer “take a break”, entirely? No camera, no laptop, only committing the scenery to memory? I doubt it. Maybe just not getting up at the wee hours of dawn, and maybe -maybe, not carrying along big heavy lenses and tripods. No schedules, no pressures, small camera on hand “just in case” would be my guess. I have yet to meet a budding or professional photographer – or traveler – who did not have camera in hand, just in case. Camera and iPhone in tow (and my guess would be a Mac as well), she snapped a few at leisure, mostly on her phone. Busily burning the candle at both ends she does not have time to add any posts or hotel reviews just yet, but did share a few photos with us. So we will just display some of her leisure photos here and look forward to a Mazatlan post sometime in the future.
I did refrain from taking my laptop because I didn’t want anything to do with it after such a hard last 3 weeks & the tripod would have been too much of a hassle. I did take the first photos of the Iguana & some others with my iPhone 5 (good camera, must say), but carefully ventured into the pool the second day with my professional camera for better shots, while declaring to everyone around me not to splash any water while I was there. They happily complied & the pictures came out great. Also, unlike me (not a morning person, as we know) I was up about 7 am every morning because the hummingbirds, woodpeckers & Pelicans were most active then. Anyway, you’re right, I am never without a camera. I have my big pro one, my iPhone camera which takes great shots (best ever I’ve seen on a cell phone) & a smaller big pocket type Canon that is easier to tote around, but for this trip I just took my iPhone & my Long Range lens with my pro camera.
As for Mazatlan, I have felt that way no matter which town, village or city I have went to. Although, Mazatlan itself is pretty run down outside the beach area resorts. My stay was at a place called “The Inn at Mazatlan”. I had the same view but just a studio, which was fine because I only stayed in there to sleep. It wasn’t my favorite place in Mexico. San Felipe, a sleepy (or used to be) little fishing village on the east side of the Baja on the Gulf of California (about 5 hours from the Cal/Mex border of El Centro was a favorite. I also love Cabo San Lucas, but it has grown so massively. I always venture out into the neighborhoods where the real citizens live, but I didn’t in Mazatlan because I was warned it wasn’t safe to do so. But, from what I saw, it looked pretty poor and they said they had been having a really bad few years for tourism because of the media cartel exposure, which of course doesn’t ever touch the resort areas. The staff was the most courteous and friendly though, and remembered our names from day one. Even the guy who picked me up at the airport called me by name without ever having seen me, and he picked up several people. I was happy not to see a bunch of starving stray dogs and cats running around, which always kills me and I’ve seen it everywhere else in Mexico. So, all in all, great experience, exactly what I wanted…time alone to just relax and tan with no obligations. The beach area was very pretty, as was the resort grounds.